Learn How to File for a Utah Divorce and Prepare for Court

A Utah divorce is easy to accomplish if you and your spouse agree on it. Utah divorce laws allow ‘no-fault’ divorces on the grounds of irreconcilable differences.

Guidelines That You and Your Spouse Need to Follow When You Want a Divorce in Utah

Here are some of the guidelines that you must know:

Before you file for divorce, at least one of you must be a resident in the county where you file the divorce petition. It is necessary for one partner to be a resident of the state for a minimum of 3 months before filing it. If you have children, they must be resident in the state for a minimum of six months.

To simplify matters, you should wait until the children have lived in the state for 6 months before filing for divorce. Otherwise, the state has an Online Court Assistance Program for uncontested divorces. Use this program if you and your spouse have no more than 6 children, and your combined income is less than $10,100 per month (which applies only in child support calculations. If you have no children, there is no income limitation).

Legal procedures from filing to discovery, mediation, to trial and judgment, are similar to other states. Utah requires you to wait 90 days after filing a divorce petition before a divorce decree can be granted. The waiting period can be waived for a good cause. This regulation also does not apply to parents who attend the state’s Divorce Education and Divorce Orientation classes.

The law acknowledges that both you and your spouse must have contributed to property acquisition during the marriage, whatever the income source. Utah thus requires equitable and not equal division of such property. This decision depends upon how long the marriage lasted, the age and health of you and your spouse, your occupations, the amount and sources of income and related matters.

Seeking Alimony in Utah

Both of you may request and be granted alimony, regardless of your gender in Utah. It may be ordered on a temporary basis or pending trial, or for a longer period after entry of the divorce decree. In determining alimony, the courts consider at least two factors:

• The financial needs of the spouse, including monthly debts and expenses the recipient spouse must bear, and of course the availability of funds to pay these debts.
• The recipient's earning capacity or ability to produce income, including income received or available from all sources; past employment history, ability or inability to work and passive income received.

Alimony may be modified if conditions change as well, and can be terminated automatically upon remarriage or cohabitation by the recipient spouse. It may not be ordered for a period longer than the duration of the marriage, except in extenuating circumstances.

A custodial parent usually normally not disallowed to leave Utah with the children, but the law requires both to provide reasonable advance written notice before moving from Utah, or more than 150 miles from the residence.